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Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE is moving to keep the country out of the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest over Israel’s continued participation, with RTVE President Jose Pablo Lopez saying he will ask the broadcaster’s board to maintain Spain’s suspension.
Speaking Tuesday before RTVE’s parliamentary oversight committee, Lopez said Israel’s continued participation remained “deeply painful” despite changes introduced by the European Broadcasting Union, or EBU, which organizes Eurovision.
Lopez said RTVE had spent the past year working alongside other major European public broadcasters to push for changes within the EBU, including tougher governance standards, penalties for political instrumentalization and stricter neutrality rules covering sponsorship and the contest itself.
Although he acknowledged that progress had been made, Lopez said RTVE had not achieved all of its objectives and argued that the changes did not fully address its concerns.
“There cannot be a complacent assessment,” he said, adding that despite technical advances, there remained “an evident unfinished task in the ethical field.”
Lopez said he would therefore ask RTVE’s board to extend Spain’s suspension from Eurovision into 2027.
His remarks came after Eurovision announced new rules in early August that could prevent a winning broadcaster from hosting the following year’s contest when war, geopolitical instability or other circumstances create security risks.
The changes were approved by Eurovision’s governing Reference Group following its annual review and feedback from participating broadcasters after the 2026 contest in Vienna.
“The Rules of the Contest now say the winning broadcaster will automatically be ineligible to host the contest if an armed conflict, a sensitive geopolitical situation, or any other situation materially affects the security, safety or stability of their state or immediate region,” Eurovision said.
Spain’s planned continuation of the boycott comes after Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE and Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS also announced that they would stay out of the 2027 competition, citing Israel’s participation.
The Netherlands, Iceland, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia did not take part in Eurovision in 2026, while Spain, Ireland and Slovenia also declined to broadcast the contest.
The 2027 Eurovision Song Contest is scheduled to take place on May 15 in Burgas, a Black Sea city in Bulgaria.
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